Shen Qingyue didn’t want her family to keep nagging about marriage. She reached out, gathered the silver coins and copper coins, and began distributing the money one by one to divert attention:
“The whole family worked hard to earn this, so the pay should be fair.”
“Everyone gets 30 wen per day for labor. Father’s job pushing the stone mill is hard, so an extra 10 wen for him.”
“Erya dug up the grass roots and boiled the sugar—big effort—so an additional 50 wen for her.”
“Each person also gets one layer of the net profit. The remaining silver, after deducting costs, will be saved in the communal fund to expand the business later.”
“The communal fund will be temporarily kept by mother.”
Within the Shen family, Qingyue already held great influence, and since the distribution was reasonable, no one objected.
That way, each person got over a hundred wen in hand.
It boosted morale and saved some money.
Sure enough, Shen Erya held 182 copper coins, feeling warm inside. She had never earned this much in a month from embroidery before!
And this money was hers alone—not handed to mother to support the family.
Shen Erya was full of energy: “Tomorrow, I’ll go back to the mountains to dig more grass roots and boil more sugar for sweet cakes!”
Shen Qingyue smiled and nodded: “Good. Sugar isn’t only for sweet cakes; if you add malt, you can make maltose candy.”
“Maltose can sell too, right?” Shen Erya’s eyes shone with admiration. “I never knew about sugar-making or this way to earn money. Brother, you’re really amazing!”
Liu Cuihua clutched the money pouch, unconsciously dreaming aloud: “If from now on we can earn a tael of silver every day, that’s 365 taels a year—almost as much as a landlord’s income.”
“Then we can build some blue-tiled houses and buy some farmland. Life would be thriving!”
Shen Dabiao was infected by the lively atmosphere and began to imagine: if he were a landlord, he’d eat and drink well every day, take a beautiful concubine, and live like a god.
Of course, it was just a thought—the family’s “tigress” wouldn’t agree, and he didn’t have the guts anyway.
Just then, noise came from outside the courtyard.
Someone shouted loudly:
“The village chief is calling everyone to a meeting. Hurry!”
“A meeting?” Shen Dabiao frowned. “What’s going on? I’ll go check.”
He stood up and went outside.
Liu Cuihua sighed deeply: “A famine year is always troublesome; I fear it’s not good news.”
…
An hour later.
Shen Dabiao returned home with a grave face, worry clear in his expression.
“What’s wrong? What did they say at the meeting?”
Liu Cuihua asked with concern.
“The village’s only well is nearly dry. Starting tomorrow, water will be available only at the 2nd watch [7-9 am], and each household can only fetch one bucket.” Shen Dabiao sat down on a stool, frustrated, running his hands through his hair.
Liu Cuihua panicked: “Cooking and drinking already use a lot of water—we won’t have enough left to make sweet cakes!”
They had been dreaming of better days, only to get hit with a sucker punch.
Liu Cuihua looked up at the sky and slapped her thighs hard: “Long drought, no rain for a long time—heaven itself won’t give us farmers a chance to survive!”
The family sat listlessly like withered eggplants.
Shen Qingyue broke the silence and suddenly spoke: “Why not try finding a new water source?”
Shen Dabiao frowned: “In a drought year, finding water is not that easy. The villagers have already tried digging all the springs that used to have water—no luck.”
Shen Qingyue thought for a moment, then said seriously: “I can try.”
Shen Dabiao shook his head helplessly: “It’ll be a waste of effort.”
No one believed Shen Qingyue could find water, but no one stopped her either.
If she couldn’t make sweet cakes, there was nothing else to do.
As long as she didn’t cause trouble, they let her try.
Shen Qingyue returned to her room, brought up the system screen, and checked the price of a water detector in the mall—680 star coins.
She currently only had 1,412 star coins in her account.
She had taken the strength pills, giving her ten times normal human power, but she wasn’t invincible.
If she bought the water detector now, she might not have enough star coins left to buy weapons for self-defense if unexpected dangers arose.
After weighing the options, Shen Qingyue decided to go to the prefectural city first, exchange her 3,000 taels of silver notes for gold, then exchange gold for star coins.
This would greatly increase her safety.
She made the decision without hesitation.
At dawn the next day, she set off for the prefectural city.
The prefectural city was not close to Pingyang County. Riding the ox cart from Qingshui Village took two full hours.
The prefectural city was indeed more prosperous than the county town—even in the famine year, food stalls on the street were doing well, showing there were quite a few people with money.
Once she found water, she could bring the sweet cakes to sell in the prefectural city.
Unexpectedly, she bumped into a familiar figure.
Lin Xier?
What was she doing here?
Lin Xier looked like she had dressed up specially, wearing a white long dress that made her appear elegant and refined. Her willow-shaped eyebrows, apricot eyes, and rosy lips gave her a charming beauty rarely seen.
They were from the same village.
Out of politeness, Shen Qingyue greeted her: “Miss Lin, what a coincidence. You’re here in the prefectural city too.”
Lin Xier’s expression stiffened slightly. She smiled warily: “I came to the prefectural city for some business today. I won’t bother Brother Goudan.”
After speaking, she hurried away quickly, afraid Shen Qingyue would pester her.
Lin Xier had an extremely important matter in the city today.
The Crown Prince was going to be assassinated here!
She had learned this by chance in her previous life, though she didn’t know the exact location. She could only try her luck here.
If she could save the Crown Prince by chance, and accidentally let him see her identity jade pendant…
Then she could naturally become a princess!
Shen Qingyue found Lin Xier a bit strange but since it wasn’t her business, she didn’t pay much attention and headed straight to the money exchange.
The money exchange in the prefectural city was very luxurious. Exchanging 3,000 taels of silver notes for gold, the shopkeeper didn’t even bat an eye.
After leaving the money exchange, Shen Qingyue found a quiet, secluded spot and sold all the gold to the system, gaining 3,000 star coins.
With more star coins, her sense of security instantly rose.
In a good mood, Shen Qingyue decided to browse the city and buy some things to bring back for her family.
First, she went to a jewelry shop and bought a silver hairpin; then to a rouge shop and bought a box of rouge; finally to a tavern to buy a jug of wine. Altogether, she spent ten taels of silver.
Just as Shen Qingyue stepped out of the tavern, a flash of blade came toward her face.
Fortunately, she dodged in time; the blade grazed her temple, only cutting a few strands of hair.
“Damn! What the hell’s going on?”
The usually civilized Shen Qingyue swore.
She touched the side of her face where she’d almost been struck. Was security really this bad in ancient times?
Someone actually tried to commit murder in broad daylight!
Focusing her gaze, Shen Qingyue saw four or five people dressed as commoners surrounding a finely dressed man wearing a half-mask.
The assassins moved like ghosts, their short blades flashing as every strike aimed for vital points.
Their skills were far better than the thugs at the gambling den.
No ordinary person could have such ability.
They were obviously top-tier assassins in disguise.
Lin Xier hurried over anxiously. Though she had never seen the Crown Prince in person, she recognized the half-mask—the man being attacked was definitely the Crown Prince!
She felt both joy and fear, wanting to save him but afraid to intervene.
At that moment, she spotted Shen Qingyue standing at the tavern entrance.
Lin Xier’s eyes flickered; she walked up and righteously urged:
“Brother Goudan, you’re well known around these parts. Look how pitiful that young master is. If you help him, you can show off your power and your reputation will only grow!”
Shen Qingyue wanted to roll her eyes: “Those are first-class assassins you want me to fight? Why don’t you go help?”
She was strong, no doubt, but those assassins were masters of deadly blades—though their strength might not match hers, their agility was unpredictable.
She had no reason to risk her life for a stranger.